Tau Gamma elder urges hazing suspects to surrender

By Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - An elder of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity urged members involved in the fatal hazing of neophyte Guillo Cesar Servando to voluntarily turn themselves in to authorities in the interest of justice.

Atty. Jay De Castro, former national head of the Tau Gamma Phi and now acting as an adviser to the fraternity, said alumni members are now moving to communicate with the families of the suspects to convince them to surrender.

"Hindi naman kayo pababayaan ng kapatiran," he said, addressing suspects who are still at large.

He said the fraternity is now making its own internal investigation.

"We would like to make it clear that we do not advocate the killing of neophytes," De Castro said.

"Our objective now is to find justice for the deceased."

Meanwhile, the National Youth Commission (NYC) held a dialogue Wednesday to discuss with fraternities and youth groups ways to end violence.

During the dialogue, groups reiterated that critical reforms in the Anti-Hazing Law are key to stopping the violence and not abolishing fraternities in schools.

NYC chairperson Gio Tingson said inputs from the discussion will be synthesized as they are already working to amend the existing law or propose an entirely different law altogether.

He added the current Anti-Hazing Law is no longer apt with the way fraternities are running their organization today.

Tingson said aside from seeking colleges and universities to recognize the existence of such fraternities to be able to regulate their activities, measures to ensure greater accountability especially for its leaders should also be implemented.

The NYC chair also proposed greater involvement by the local government units and communities.